Insanities
by Lady Shockbox
Summary: Even though Grappler Gouf doesn't realize it, he's been driving Zapper Zaku insane. Oneshot. Minor Slash.


So, since joining this website, this is the _first_ story I've written outside the fandom I've been sticking with for the past few years. I'm not at all surprised it's for SD Gundam though. Before the show stopped airing on Cartoon Network, I absolutely loved it. Anywho, this particular fic came about while I was trying to figure out what fandoms were my favorites. I spontaneously remembered this one in particular, so I went onto YouTube to see if I could find any episodes to re-watch. As a result, I accidentally fell in love with SDGF all over again. Of course, Grappler and Zapper have always been my favorite characters. On top of that, they argued like an old married couple. I figured it would be appropriate to write something somewhat slashy about them for irony's sake. Anyways, please be warned that this is the first time I've written outside my usual fandom of choice, so constructive criticism would be much appreciated. Letting me know how I did, whether it be good or bad, will help me write future SD fics in the future. As for the disclaimer, SD Gundam is not mine, but the basic underlining plot here is.

* * *

**The way you seem to kill me a little more each day**

**And it's what you're thinking in your twisted mind, the way your body trembles when it's next to mine**

_Weight of the World_ - Saliva

**i**

If there was one person that he knew was going to drive him absolutely mad, it was Grappler.

Almost as if on cue, said teal and cobalt mech cackled beside him. "Ah, don't you just _love_ the smell of concrete in the morning?"

They had been out there for an hour or so, although it did not deter from the fact that there wasn't a single sign that a Gundam would be showing up anytime soon. Grappler said it was a good thing, actually. While attacking Neotopia directly never seemed to work in their favor, Grappler Gouf had been the one who devised the strategy to eradiate Neotopia from the outside-inward. The outskirts of the city were unpopulated and ridden with organic life, so it seemed ideal to let the bagubagu go rampant on the area _surrounding_ the metropolis. Then they could slowly move inward for the kill. Zapper had pointed out that it was still a possibility that the Gundams would detect them outside the city limits, although Grappler did not seem worried. It was a brilliant plan otherwise, one that _actually_ had some sort of strategic planning behind it, but Zapper Zaku still hated it. Simply because Grappler had thought it up before he had, the maroon mech made it his _personal_ business to hate it.

Zapper turned his head and glared hard at Gouf with his optic flaring spitefully. "It's _evening_ you dimwitted imbecile."

"Like I _care,"_ Grappler said turning his head to face his partner. His own optic brightened with an aggressive malice that hinted he was more than willing to purposely loose his temper. "How are you even able to tell?"

"The sun set ten degrees since we got here. It's getting darker too," Zapper said with a low rumbling growl. It wasn't uncommon for the two of them to squabble in that manner, but at least it was better than when they _weren't_ talking. When they were silent around one another, that was usually when things started to get bad for Zapper Zaku on a personal level. When they weren't fighting, it gave the maroon mech time to think and the things he thought about Grappler bothered him. Unconsciously, the older of the two mechs tapped his left hand's digits on the butt of one of his holstered machine guns.

Grappler turned away from him to look out towards the setting sun. Zapper Zaku - in the same manner he had been tapping the blunt end of his machine gun - followed his scarlet gaze. Bright orange and fiery against the darkening sky, the sun's descent into the horizon would have been a serene sight if not for the swarming clusters of bagubagu buzzing about in the air like dangerous grey poison clouds. As the rest of the Zako troops spread the hordes of deadly mecha-insects, the two squad leaders stood side by side on top of the Komosai watching their soldiers release the swarms.

The cobalt squadron leader laughed a moment afterward, throwing his head back in a poised movement and cackling in an almost musical way.

Zapper Zaku snapped his head around to face the other mech. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Grappler cackled. "I just find it amusing that you actually _know_ how to tell the difference between a sunrise and sunset in this dimension. I'd say that you were actually _bothering_ to remember such pointless information if I didn't know any better."

Zapper hissed through his vents and tightly gripped the top of his machine gun. He took Grappler's jab as an insult. "Take that back, or I'll have to have the Zakos drag your scrapped parts to the recycling bin as soon as I'm through with you."

Grappler's reaction was just as expected as it was also immediate. The other mech whipped around and brought his left hand up at an angle - the same left hand that his more intimidating weaponry was attached to - with speedy precision before he stopped the movement. Gouf's pointed grappler claws came mere centimeters from touching the bottom of Zapper's vented mouthpiece. If he chose too, Grappler could have very easily thrust his arm upward to run his knife-like digits through Zapper's skull to either mortally wound him or instantly kill him.

He didn't, though. That was something that bothered Zapper.

Gouf would have been smirking in a sadistic manner if his faceplate allowed it. Instead, his cruel grin reflected deep behind his optical glass. He twiddled his sharp hooked claws under Zapper's chin with a playfulness that had nothing to do with benevolence. "I'd like to see you _try._"

Zapper Zaku said nothing. He merely glared hard at Grappler and kept his vocalizer offline.

Grappler Gouf pulled away with a low chortle, lowering his arm to drop back to his side. He turned away to watch their troops cause havoc to the organic life around them. A dangerous mirth glowed in his optic like a cold flame and Zapper could not help watching the other's form glow like that same cool fire in the setting sunlight.

_This_ was why Grappler was driving him insane.

Zapper first meet Grappler when Commander Sazabi had offered to assist Commander Nightingale's invasion on Lacroa. The _Magna Musai_ had entered the dimension and docked up alongside the already formed _Black Musai_ Horn of War. Although the actual invasion portion of the takeover operation was complete, the fact still remained that the resistance against the Dark Axis was still strong. If the surviving troublesome knight Gundams weren't bad enough, the human mages who used the sometimes overpowering force of Mana against them _were_. The surviving peasants were easy enough to deal with - the temporarily combined Zako crews from both the _Magna Musai_ and _Black Musai_ were more than capable of handling that - while the Gundams were only a _slight_ threat in comparison to the _Magna Musai's_ main cannons, but the humans wielding Mana were still an extreme hazard. This was mainly because no one could figure out where their main camp was. That was why Sazabi offered Nightingale his assistance, and how Zapper met Grappler. Whereas Zapper Zaku had been the _Magna Musai's_ established squadron leader, Grappler Gouf had been the _Black Musai's_ sole one since the other two leaders were killed. Zapper and Grappler met one another for the first time in Commander Sazabi's office when Nightingale boarded the _Magna Musai_ with Grappler Gouf in tow to meet with the other commander.

At the time, Zapper Zaku was the eldest serving squadron leader in the entire Dark Axis fleet. It was only ironic that he was forced to work with the youngest, being Grappler Gouf. Although Zapper had been a squadron leader at least a year longer than him, Grappler _still_ managed to top his older cohort in just about everything in regards to being a soldier. His aim was superior, he was far more elegant, and he was undoubtedly the most brilliantly inclined and level-headed of all the officers ever promoted to the position of squad leader. The both of them managed to get along well enough while Commander Sazabi gave them their mission to destroy the remaining mages - this was to be done by delivering an artificially crafted spirit egg containing a giant bagubagu to the location of the mage camp - but their clashing personalities and differentiating views made their relationship reminiscent to oil and water when they actually set out to complete their task. They pulled off their mission easily enough - though not before Grappler got the side of his face nicked so that it left that long scar running up the side of his face - although they were both relieved when the operation was over and done with. Zapper hoped he would never have to see Grappler again and he presumed that Grappler Gouf thought the same for him.

The feeble hope was short lived.

Not even three stellar cycles later, they were working together _on the same ship_ and practically _living_ with one another. Zapper Zaku absolutely loathed Commander Sazabi for having Grappler Gouf transferred to the _Magna Musai_ to help with their invasion on Neotopia. Sazabi smartly claimed that having two squadron leaders would be better than one, but Zapper found his statement highly contradicting. In truth, squadron leader pairs were only as useful as they could get along, and it was for that reason that they never won any battles in Neotopia even _after_ Grappler's arrival. They argued over everything and couldn't come to terms with battle strategies or fighting tactics they could use against the enemy. It was an awful existence made worse by the punishments Commander Sazabi would dish out on them for their failures. That made their bitter relationship with one another all the more heated.

The hatred they had for one another was naturally forged, but still it didn't explain why Zapper suddenly found himself falling head over heels for Grappler now that they were reunited.

It drove Zapper absolutely _insane_ with confusion. The second time he and his Zako troops failed to invade Neotopia, Commander Sazabi's claim that he was bringing Grappler Gouf in as backup enraged Zapper Zaku to no end. Nevertheless, it didn't stop the older of the two from finding himself _attracted_ to Grappler. The first time he had seen Grappler Gouf after so long, the younger mech's fluid movements when feinted to attack his older counterpart left the maroon squad leader awed with a respect that he never felt for the other warrior before. It made Zapper sick to his fuel tank with disgust initially but, regardless, there was nothing he could do to help it. After not seeing the other mech for so long, he desperately hoped that his apparent attraction for Gouf was nothing more than a fluke… though, as time went on, it became obvious that it was not.

Grappler Gouf had patience and calculating intelligence, which was something that Zapper Zaku deeply envied. Whereas Zapper Zaku was a violent sort of creature right down to the last screws and wires, Grappler had all the grace and maliciousness of - dare he say - a Gundam crossbred with what humans called wolves. The term seemed to fit from Zapper Zaku's perspective anyways. Gouf always seemed aware of what was going on around him, ready for anything that could be thrown at him, and all those aspects ultimately left Zapper humbled in the deepest recesses of his processor. Then there was his voice: Light, playful, and always endearing.

That was why he was in love with Grappler. Seeing the weakness in admitting that, Zapper found knowing what he felt was driving him mad.

"Zapper? Watch it."

The sound of Grappler's voice dragging him back to reality made him snap out of his daze. He turned his head to look at Grappler with surprise. Gouf's head was only slightly inclined in his direction so Zapper couldn't completely see his optic. Zapper followed his gaze and saw that he was crushing the top of his gun. The maroon warrior cursed loudly and let go of the weapon's butt. Finger indentations stood out against the black metal and he cursed out loud a second time with a slightly more heated vigor. "Blast it. And I just _replaced_ that one too."

"Poor thing," Grappler said in a mocking tone, except Zapper immediately caught that it lacked its usual venom. That was unusual.

Zapper Zaku turned his head upward and away form his damaged firearm to look back at Grappler. The other squad leader was looking back at the sunset and rising clouds of bagubagu, although Zapper could clearly see that the other's stance was somewhat off. Grappler was standing more rigid than usual and he stared ahead of him like he was a standard ranked Zako. _They_ had a tendency to do that, although Grappler normally did not. He usually stood with his optic watching out for things out of the corner of his vision, _not_ straight ahead like he was pretending to have tunnel vision. Then again, maybe Grappler had been standing like that the entire time and maybe Zapper was only noticing now. It was a possibility.

Then Zapper Zaku noticed Grappler Gouf was shaking. His entire body trembled just barely.

"Uh… Grappler? Are you alright?"

Grappler didn't say anything. He didn't even look in Zapper's direction.

Even though it was usually during silences like this that Zapper Zaku would find himself deep in thought, he couldn't keep track of what his body was doing until it was too late. The back of his ebony right hand unconsciously outstretched itself and gently touched the talons of Grappler's left. Feeling the back of his palm nudge the cool metal of Gouf's claws, Zapper was mortified realizing that he was touching the other mech in such a manner. Though it was simply a bump of sorts, it was far too intimate for his liking. He was downright terrified moments later when he realized that he didn't have the willpower to pull away.

At most, he expected an immediate retaliation from Grappler. As it was, there was none.

Grappler kept staring straight ahead. Several tense moments passed, maybe even an entire cycle's worth of them, but it was only then when Grappler moved. Gently and with an almost timid dynamism, he pressed the back of his claws against Zapper's touching hand. It wasn't a movement trying to move the other warrior's opposing appendage away - it was _far_ too gentle for that - and it appeared to be more of an acknowledgement that they were making physical contact with one another. Grappler did nothing more and didn't try to move away.

Silently, Zapper looked down at Grappler's claws before looking back up towards the other warrior's hidden features. The way the other mech's head was angled, it was impossible for him to read Gouf's expression because he couldn't see it. Gouf was still shaking though, and that was when Zapper Zaku realized something very important about the other squad leader.

Against all odds, Zapper Zaku had been driving Grappler Gouf insane too, and for all the same reasons.

**Fin**


End file.
